Fishing reels may have a line stopper on which a fishing line is locked to prevent the fishing line wound around a spool from becoming loose. For instance, a line stopper for a fishing spinning reel may include a line stopper member disposed on an outer peripheral surface of a skirt portion of a spool. The line stopper member includes a support shaft portion that extends radially outward from the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion and a fishing line catching portion provided at the tip of the support shaft portion. A fishing line may be wound around the support shaft portion or clamped between the fishing line catching portion and the skirt portion, whereby the fishing line can be locked.
Japanese Utility Model Application Publication Hei. 5-13166 (“the '166 Publication”) describes a line stopper having a supporting member that is made of resin and disposed between the line stopper member and the skirt portion (see FIG. 1 of the '166 Publication). When a fishing line is engaged with the line stopper member, the fishing line does not contact the metal skirt portion, and thereby the fishing line is prevented from being scratched by the metal portion.
However when the above-described supporting member is provided, the line stopper member is disposed radially outside and there is a possibility that the fishing line could get caught. Thus, in a modification example of the '166 Publication, a recess for accommodating the supporting member is provided in the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion (see FIG. 9 of the '166 Publication). A line stopper described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-269094 (“the '094 Publication”) has a through hole for accommodating the supporting member in the skirt portion.
Since the line stopper of the '094 Publication has the through hole, there is no bottom wall that supports the supporting member from the radially inward side. Thus, the supporting member has a support shaft portion that extends to the skirt portion (the main body) and is provided for the supporting member. The support shaft portion of the line stopper member and the support shaft portion of the supporting member are disposed such that they are overlapped from each other in the spool shaft direction and fixed by a screw (see FIG. 7 of the '094 Publication).
Japanese Utility Model Application Publication Sho. 55-121669 (“the '669 Publication”) describes a line stopper for a fishing spinning reel is configured to have a metal hook that protrudes to the side of the skirt portion. In the line stopper of the '669 Publication, a fishing line is wrapped around the axis of the metal hook so as to lock the fishing line.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-284459 (“the '459 Publication”) describes a line stopper for a fishing spinning reel is configured to have a fishing line catching portion that extend along the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion. In the line stopper of the '459 Publication, a tip of a fishing line is clamped between the fishing line catching portion and the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion so as to lock the fishing line. The fishing line catching portion is configured to be biased toward the skirt portion by a spring or the elasticity of the fishing line catching portion itself. By biasing, the fishing line is prevented from coming off from the fishing line catching portion.
However, according to the modification example of the '166 Publication, a wall of the skirt portion in the vicinity of the recess has a thickness which is the sum of the thickness of the recess for accommodating the supporting member and the thickness of the bottom wall for supporting the supporting member accommodated in the recess. Therefore the thickness of the wall is relatively large, resulting in a large weight of the spool. For the case where the through hole is provided in the skirt portion such as the line stopper of the '094 Publication, unless the through hole is closed, the line stopper member tends to deform radially inward and therefore it is difficult to lock the fishing line thereon. Moreover there is a possibility that foreign substances and a fishing line enter inside the skirt portion. For the above-stated reasons, it is preferable that the through hole be formed in the skirt portion (the main body) and the supporting member is configured to close the through hole.
Furthermore, when the support shaft portion of the line stopper member and the support shaft portion of the supporting member overlap in the spool shaft direction such as the fixing structure described in the '094 Publication, there is a possibility that the spool contacts a front portion of a rotor when the spool reciprocates. When trying to avoid contact with the front portion of the rotor, it may increase the size of the skirt portion and restrict the shape, dimensions and the like of the spool and the rotor. For this reason, it is desired to provide a structure that can be easily fixed without forming the support shaft on the supporting member.
Further, the line stopper for the fishing spinning reel of the '669 Publication locks a fishing line by wrapping the line around the axis of the metal hook. In such a structure, when the fishing line is hard and thick, there is a risk that the fishing line comes off from the metal hook by the tension of the fishing line itself. Furthermore, in the line stopper for the spinning reel described in the '459 Publication if a fishing line is engaged with the metal hook for a long time, there is a possibility that the fishing line gets creased. Once the fishing line is creased, it may cause various troubles such as degradation of a fishing-line releasing capability, tangling and breakage of the fishing line.
Further, in the line stopper for a fishing spinning reel described in the '459 Publication, a fishing line is engaged at a part of the fishing line catching portion situated distant from a fishing line winding body (a part of the fishing line catching portion facing away from the fishing line winding body). Accordingly, in the line stopper for a fishing spinning reel described in the '459 Publication, to engage and lock a fishing line, it was necessary to temporarily move the fishing line to a position distant from the fishing line winding body and then to advance the fishing line to a locking position between the fishing line catching portion and the outer peripheral surface of the skirt portion. Thus, there are a number of actions required to lock the fishing line, it is complicated and it is not possible to finish the actions quickly.